The plucky Tigers encountered a deck that aided swing bowling, an opposition whose bowling attack was on song from ball one and a lush outfield that offered little value for shots.

Tigers captain Ben Tupper said it was a hard slog for his batsmen over the course of the 80 overs.

"It was tough," he said.

"The wicket was two-paced and they bowled well changing up the pace."

Tupper was top-scorer for the Tigers with a testing 61.

The opener described the knock as one of his "scratchiest".

"I don't think I hit a ball in the middle of the bat," he said with a chuckle.

Vijay Jassi went along for the ride with Tupper to play a big part in combing for a third-wicket stand of 52 runs.

Jassi made his own highest score of what has been a lean summer with 30.

When he was dismissed with the score on 3-94 it was up to Tupper to get the scoreboard ticking along.

Tupper reached his half-century and did not make too many thereafter.

He fell with the Tigers in trouble on 6-129.

"When I came off I was a little bit flat," Tupper said.

"We were in danger of being bowled out for less than 140."

The tail wagged for the Tigers and produced some valuable runs late in the innings.

The last three in particular, Bill Blair (nine), Gareth Stevens (14) and Tim McGrath (11 not out), gave the home side a boost.

"We fought it out well," Tupper said.

"We got 50 runs out of our last four batsmen.

"They made me real proud."

VTCA SCOREBOARD

North division: Sunshine United 173 (Tupper 61 Jassi 30) v Altona North: Old Essendon Grammarians 187 v Keilor Park 0-58 (Rodrigo 57): Keilor 0-11 v Tullamarine 221; Sunshine Druids 225 v Westmeadows.

North A1: Taylors Lakes v St Albans 6-304 (Harman 82 Jaeger 51 Langley-Dunn 50 Montebello 48 Pizaro 41no).

West B1: Sunshine YCW 1-37 v St Andrews 166; Seabrook 1-8 v Sunshine Heights 156.